Network difference reporting
First Claim
1. A method of diagnosing a network by a network analysis system implemented on a computer system, said method comprising:
- obtaining, by the network analysis system, a first network description file comprising network objects that indicate a baseline state of equipment in the network,obtaining, by the network analysis system, a second network description file comprising network objects that indicate a current state of equipment in the network,obtaining, by the network analysis system responsive to a user input, a set of comparison behavior parameters indicating equipment in the network that are of interest by the user,comparing, by the network analysis system, respective objects in the first network description file and the second network description file corresponding to the same equipment in the network, based on the comparison behavior parameters,categorizing, by the network analysis system, the comparison between objects in the first network description file and the second network description file based on objects that are unchanged, changed, deleted, and added, andproviding, by the network analysis system, information for displaying a difference report comprising a set of categories to indicate objects that are unchanged, changed, deleted, and added in the network.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A network difference reporting method and system categorizes the differences between two networks, and provides an output report structured by these categories. The preferred categories include objects common to both networks that have different attributes; objects found only in the first network; objects found only in the second network; and objects common to both networks that have similar attributes. A user-interface is provided to allow a user to identify objects or attributes that are to be included or excluded from the identified differences. Preferably, the output reports includes a graphic display of differences that uses the same hierarchical object attribute structure as the networks, to facilitate a rapid understanding of the reported differences between the networks.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A method of diagnosing a network by a network analysis system implemented on a computer system, said method comprising:
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obtaining, by the network analysis system, a first network description file comprising network objects that indicate a baseline state of equipment in the network, obtaining, by the network analysis system, a second network description file comprising network objects that indicate a current state of equipment in the network, obtaining, by the network analysis system responsive to a user input, a set of comparison behavior parameters indicating equipment in the network that are of interest by the user, comparing, by the network analysis system, respective objects in the first network description file and the second network description file corresponding to the same equipment in the network, based on the comparison behavior parameters, categorizing, by the network analysis system, the comparison between objects in the first network description file and the second network description file based on objects that are unchanged, changed, deleted, and added, and providing, by the network analysis system, information for displaying a difference report comprising a set of categories to indicate objects that are unchanged, changed, deleted, and added in the network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A network difference reporting system configured to diagnose a network based on analyzing network description files that indicate different states of the network, said system comprising:
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a comparator that is configured to compare a first network description file comprising objects identifying equipment in a network at a baseline state and a second network description file comprising objects identifying equipment in the network at a current state; and a report generator that is configured to display a comparison of the first network description file and the second network description file in a set of categories that indicates objects that are unchanged, changed, added, or deleted, wherein; the first and second network description files identify a hierarchical network object based on an attribute structure, the report generator is configured to display the comparison between objects in the first network description file and the second network description file based on the hierarchical network object attribute structure, and a categorizer that is configured to categorize the comparison between objects in the first network description file and the second network description file into a set of categories to indicate objects that are unchanged, changed, added, or deleted. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification